Since 2002, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at the NIH, has funded research into "Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy" (MBAT), specifically for cancer patients, at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and into Chinese Exercise Modalities, for PD patients, at the Department of Neurology, Movement Disorders Program, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.

Brain Wellness Innovators' Synergy Protocol

We translate the latest research into innovative therapy to help the brain heal itself.

William E. Bush, MD
Dr. Bush is our Medical liaison with the neurologists under whose care Parkinson patients volunteering for this clinical trial are receiving standard treatment and medication. He oversees the coordination of the synergy of therapies in our brain wellness protocol.
Dr. Bush served on the The Hagel Health Care Commission; the mandate from the Senate was to review the current state of health care in the United States and present recommendations for developing an accessible and sustainable system for the 21st century. The resulting report of January 15, 2007, defines the challenges facing American health care and recommends federal initiatives for system-wide improvements. He also serves on the Council of Advisors of Tamassee School in South Carolina and the Environmental Leadership Center of Warren-Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina.

Michelle Christides, retired Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies in W Civilization
941-358-8758
mentor@jung-soul.com
Prof. Christides is investigating the phenomenon of diminution of symptoms in PD during creative activity by recording Neurofeedback EEGs and hemo-encephalograms in order to identify frequencies in high performance creativity and entrainment of Parkinson's brain and heart arhythmias with normal or harmonic frequencies, as, for example, in music. She teaches the patients painting and to synchronize breathing with brain frequencies during creativity in order to reduce parkinsonism in daily activity. She adapts the training experience with the therapeutics in order to write grant reports, training manuals, research sharing articles, and software based on the frequency patterns identified in her research.

George Rozelle, Ph. D., BCIA Fellow
2800 Bahia Vista Road, Suite 400
Sarasota, FL 34239-2710
941-954-9959
Dr. Rozelle is the owner of Mind Spa, a state-of-the-art mental fitness facility in Sarasota since 2004, and a BCIA-EEG Fellow and Diplomate in Neurotherapy. He assesses the patients' psychoneurological function for our approach (in addition to the standard care assessment by their neurologists), prescribes the Neurofeedback protocol, and supervises the training of the patients to access states of reduced parkinsonism in creativity. The variety of equipment available at Mind Spa is selected to address neurological dysfunction and enhance coordination, balance, gait, as well as cognitive sequellae to disability.

Rachel M. Toomim, A. P.
2800 Bahia Vista Road, Suite 400
Sarasota, FL 34239-2710
941-952-9902
Ms. Toomim has been in practice for twenty-one years and has advanced training in acupuncture of addictions and neurological disorders. She is the Vice President and Training Chair for the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association, NADA, a 501(c)(3) organization supporting the use of acupuncture for addictions and behavioral health issues. She will be targeting the endorphin-mediated pathway in order to increase the axonal transport protein synthesis that can make this pathway function to compensate for motor-off rigidity and dyskinesia. This is an innovative approach (not related to the NADA protocol).

Names of other key personnel who support this synergy protocol as "Amici curae":

Ruth J. Barbier, Ph. D.
Dr. Barbier is an educational sociologist who does the statistics for the UPDRS assessments by the fifteen participating patients' neurologists, as well as for our data. She is former Director of Communications, Product Division, Coulter Medical Instruments.

Sydney Louis, M. D.
Dr. Louis is an emeritus professor of Neurology of Brown University, who has written extensive research on EEG recordings and reviews our work for patterns of frequencies in brain and heart arhythmias.

John Myers, Ph. D.
Dr. Myers is Professor of Music and Interactive Arts at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, MA, who is consulting with us concerning rhythm and brain frequencies in order to identify alternate endorphin-mediated pathways for brain imaging and other measuring equipment.

John E. Lewis, Ph.D.
Director of Research for Complementary and Integrative Medicine
Associate Director of the Medical Wellness Center
University of Miami School of Medicine
Dr. Lewis has written a letter of support to be enclosed with our proposal, in which he states: " . . . if you receive funding for your proposal, I would be interested in exploring the possibilities of expanding the study in the second year to include intervening with returning veterans from Iraq with traumatic brain injury through our Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. This investigation would dovetail nicely with my current studies in both Alzheimer's disease and in a normal elderly population, . . ."